Posts Tagged ‘donation’

Anywho, what do we see here – do we see the three parked cars of the occupants of one unit of housing all carousing about license plate-free on the Streets of San Francisco?

I think so.

Are these people pulling a Steve Jobs? Are they driving registered vehicles hither and yon with one or two DMV plates in the trunk, you know, waiting to get pulled over by the popo and then it will be, what, “Oh, I’ve been meaning to put those things on my car. The dealership says I need a special bracket, or something” or something like that?

I’ll tell you, the reason why the owners of Italian exoticars drive about California without proper California registration and insurance is because of the crushing “use taxes” they would have to pay otherwise. So your expensive, impractical weekend car might cost you $10K or $20K just for CA registration for the first year and then many thousands per year for years after that. So you end up seeing people using Oregon plates or Nevada plates or Montana plates or whatever.

But OTOH, the reason why owners of German luxocars don’t have the plates what DMV sent them mounted front and rear, just speculating here, are:

Eurocars aren’t made with tall square-ish American license plates in mind, so you might need a special bracket to mount them, and even though dealers are obligated to provide them…

After they break, due to their Mickey Mouse construction, drivers don’t want to replace them due to…

Car owners thinking that ugly U.S.-style plates mar the good looks of their Euro rides, and…

4. Bridge Toll Evasion

(Hey, what if you have just the back license plate on your car – do the Golden Gate Bridge people take images of you car from the back as well? IDK.)

Anyway, the best example of this would be a German car owner who improperly asked for a handicapped placard and was improperly given one by a chiropractor and then uses that placard to park for free all day long at an SFMTA parking meter in Frisco, say someplace close to the Financh but not too close, maybe by that Safeway on Washington BUT ALSO doesn’t have license plates mounted in order to evade the $6.50 daily Golden Gate Bridge toll BUT ALSO has an insidery CHP 11-99 Foundation license plate holder so that the CHP officer who pulls you over already knows that you’ve personally given thousands of dollars to the families of CHP officers so s/he will go easy on you “this time” for speeding on the 101 without license plates BUT ALSO has been doing this for years and years.

It wasn’t that I didn’t tryIt’s not the kind of thing, that you buyWritten in my destinyLife is but a dreamCovered by the skyStop saying that you’re calling timeLook at your life before you start on mineI’m not the kind of person that you needI’m sick of tryingI mean that it’s over

It was always specialIt was like water down the drainI’m intoxicatedEvery time I hear your nameI try to rememberBut nothing is the sameIt was always specialit was like water down the drain

Patiently you wait for meYou’re so blindI thought it couldn’t beThen changed my mindDrowning in the endless seaLine all those linesThe traces of your memoryDon’t belong with mine

I still don’t know what people are doing to this sign in the Buffalo Paddock* in Golden Gate Park. I don’t think the vandals mind her donating money – what, like $50,000? But I think they don’t like the idea of the thank you sign being planted here. Just a WAG.

Anyway, here it is, taking another beating, this time to pop the top off of a beer bottle, or three:

Maybe Rec and Park should melt down this rusty sign for reuse and then somehow thank Marissa Mayer and Zachary Bogue some other way?

“On May the Fourth, the How Weird Street Faire will fill the streets of San Francisco with a celebration unlike anything you’ve experienced before… HOW WEIRD IN OUTER SPACE! An epic journey to a place of weirdness and creativity and peace. How Weird features galactic-class music and art, dancing, performances, technology exhibits, unique vendors from across the planet, and thousands of people in colorful costumes.

You are invited to participate in the greatest street faire in the galaxy, and the start of the San Francisco festival season. Explore the furtile breeding ground for unexpected inspiration and cutting-edge innovation. Be creative at the expanding Art Alley, a vortex of varied expressions. Make new connections, and reconnect with old ones. Together, we will boldly go where no street faire has gone before.

The How Weird Street Faire showcases the full spectrum of electronic dance music styles, using advanced sound technology to fill the streets of San Francisco with the vibrations of peace and the frequencies of fun. There will be 10 stages of some of the best music, art, and sound systems in the galaxy, produced by some of the best sound collectives in the universe.

For 2014, How Weird Street Faire introduces the first National Dance Week stage, featuring dancers of every kind from every place, showcasing the diversity of terrestrial bodies in motion. There will be free dance lessons throughout the day, and a special flash mob that you can participate in. The National Dance Week stage will be next to the center intersection, and dancing will be found throughout the faire. All existence is in a complex dance of energy and vibrations, continuously moving and evolving. Dance is perhaps the best way of describing and understanding life, the cosmos, and ourselves.

Art has a way of reaching the farthest places. This year, How Weird will expand Art Alley and move it to Tehama Street. Come create at the new location, and enjoy the live and exhibited artwork and interactive Art Alley mural. Art Alley is curated by ArtIsMobilUs, a non-profit mobile public art gallery and roving arts incubator bringing art to humans everywhere.

There is a $10 requested donation at the entrances to the faire, for which you will receive a Magic Sticker. The Magic Stickers are worth hundreds of dollars in savings, and come with many free things. There will be discounts and specials at all of the vendors at the faire, and all of the faire bars. The Magic Stickers are how people can support the faire, while getting something great back in return. Check the website for all of the Magic Sticker specials.

The How Weird vendors offer many unique and creative goods for sale, including designer clothing, jewelry, art, decorations, games, and more. And there will be plenty of tasty food and drinks. This year will also feature local arts and crafts vending on Art Alley.

Costumes are required at How Weird. Come as yourself. Come as someone else. Come as something weird. Be the you you’ve always wanted to be. Space-related costumes are big this year.

The faire is open to all ages, and is handicapped accessible. The main entrance is at Howard and New Montgomery Streets, a short walk to MUNI, BART, the Transbay Terminal, and Caltrain Station. For those arriving from above, the coordinates are 37°47’12.4″ N, 122°23’53.7″ W. Join us as we journey through the cosmos in search of new and exciting experiences, expanding our perspective to the universal scale.

The How Weird Street Faire is a project of the non-profit World Peace Through Technology Organization, showing that in spite of our differences, we all dance to the same beat.

No, I don’t want your number No, I don’t wanna give you mine, and No, I don’t wanna meet you nowhere No, I don’t want none of your time, and

No, I don’t want no scrub A scrub is a guy that can’t get no love from me Hanging out the passenger side Of his best friend’s ride Trying to holla at me I don’t want no scrub A scrub is a guy that can’t get no love from me Hanging out the passenger side Of his best friend’s ride Trying to holla at me

But a scrub’s checkin’ me but his game is kinda weak And I know that he cannot approach me ‘Cause I’m lookin like class and he’s looking like trash Can’t get wit a deadbeat ass

Anyway, this is becoming an annual tradition for Lynne and Marc Benioff – deets below.

Standing in front of the half-billion UCSF Mission Bay children’s hospital with their name on the front:

Click to expand

All the deets, released this AM:

“Marc and Lynne Benioff are making the following donations:

· $250,000 to Catholic Charities CYO’s Star Community Home to provide temporary housing and assistance to families in need. This will be executed as a challenge grant, whereby contributions by the public to support Star Community Home will be matched dollar for dollar by the Benioffs, up to the amount of their gift.

· $230,000 to Hamilton Family Center’s First Avenues program to provide temporary rental subsidies to help at-risk families from becoming homeless.

· $70,000 to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Season of Sharing Fund to provide one-time temporary assistance to families experiencing unexpected crisis.

“Marc and I want to further our partnership with the City to break the cycle of homelessness for children and families in San Francisco,” said Lynne Benioff. “We hope that others will join us this holiday season to ensure the health and safety of every child in the City.”

For more information about the Catholic Charities CYO’s Star Community Home, go to: www.cccyo.org.

Matt Kochman… served as Uber’s founding general manager in New York before he left last year. Kochman left Uber to do consulting for transportation brands and startups, fed up with Uber’s irreverent attitude toward regulators. “Discounting the rules and regulations as a whole, just because you want to launch a product and you have a certain vision for things, that’s just irresponsible,” Kochman said.

Here you go, just match up the Lyft Company’s “Terms” for its drivers with the recently passed California Insurance Code Section 11580.24.

The legislation Lyft reps refer to isn’t legislation at all – it’s a law that’s in effect now.

So, just as a massage parlor only takes a cut for massage service and is “unaware” of its sex workers profiting from sex, Lyft takes a cut (20% currently, but look for that to rise soon) for app service and is “unaware” of its drivers profiting from driving around like a taxi.

So, how much can people earn in a year with Lyft and still not “profit?” $10k? $30k? It depends. It depends on the car and how far people want to push things.

Such Driver possesses a valid driver’s license and is authorized to operate a motor vehicle and has all appropriate licenses, approvals and authority to provide transportation to third parties in all jurisdictions in which such Driver uses the Services.

Such Driver owns, or has the legal right to operate, the vehicle such Driver uses when accepting Riders, and such vehicle is in good operating condition and meets the industry safety standards and all applicable statutory and state department of motor vehicle requirements for a vehicle of its kind.

Such Driver has a valid policy of liability insurance (in coverage amounts consistent with all applicable legal requirements) for the operation of such Driver’s vehicle to cover any anticipated losses related to such Driver’s provision of rides to Riders.

Such Driver will be solely responsible for any and all liability which results from or is alleged as a result of the operation of the vehicle such Driver uses to transport Riders, including, but not limited to personal injuries, death and property damages.

In the event of a motor vehicle accident such Driver will be solely responsible for compliance with any applicable statutory or department of motor vehicles requirements, and for all necessary contacts with such Driver’s insurance carrier.

Such Driver will obey all local laws related to the matters set forth herein, and will be solely responsible for any violations of such local laws.

Such Driver will not make any misrepresentation regarding Lyft, the Lyft Platform, the Services or such Driver’s status as a Driver, offer or provide transportation service for profit, as a public carrier or taxi service, charge for rides or otherwise seek non-voluntary compensation from Riders, or engage in any other activity in a manner that is inconsistent with such Driver’s obligations under this Agreement.

(a) No private passenger motor vehicle insured by its owner pursuant to a policy of insurance subject to Section 11580.1 or 11580.2 shall be classified as a commercial vehicle, for-hire vehicle, permissive use vehicle, or livery solely because its owner allows it to be used for personal vehicle sharing as long as all of the following circumstances apply:

(2) The annual revenue received by the vehicle’s owner which was generated by the personal vehicle sharing of the vehicle does not exceed the annual expenses of owning and operating the vehicle, including depreciation, interest, lease payments, auto loan payments, insurance, maintenance, parking, fuel, cleaning, automobile repair, and costs associated with personal vehicle sharing, including, but not limited to, the installation, operation, and maintenance of computer hardware and software, signage identifying the vehicle as a personal sharing vehicle, and any fees charged by a personal vehicle sharing program.

(3) The owner of the private passenger motor vehicle does not knowingly place the vehicle into commercial use, as defined by Section 675.5, by a personal vehicle sharing user while engaged in personal vehicle sharing.

(b) For purposes of this section the following definitions apply:

(1) “Personal vehicle sharing” means the use of private passenger motor vehicles by persons other than the vehicle’s owner, in connection with a personal vehicle sharing program.

(2) “Personal vehicle sharing program” means a legal entity qualified to do business in the State of California engaged in the business of facilitating the sharing of private passenger vehicles for noncommercial use by individuals within the state.

(3) “Private passenger motor vehicle” means a vehicle that is insured, or is subject to being insured, under a personal automobile liability insurance policy insuring a single individual or individuals residing in the same household, as the named insured, or meets the requirements of Section 16058 of the Vehicle Code, but does not include a vehicle with fewer than four wheels.

(c) A personal vehicle sharing program shall, for each vehicle that it facilitates the use of, do all of the following:

(1) During all times that the vehicle is engaged in personal vehicle sharing, provide insurance coverages for the vehicle and operator of the vehicle that are equal to or greater than the insurance coverages maintained by the vehicle owner and reported to the personal vehicle sharing program. However, the personal vehicle sharing program shall not provide liability coverage less than three times the minimum insurance requirements for private passenger vehicles. Compliance with the terms and conditions of this paragraph shall be deemed to avoid the application of the limitation on damage recoveries set forth in Section 3333.4 of the Civil Code.

(2) Provide the registered owner of the vehicle with a Department of Motor Vehicles Form REG 5085 or other suitable proof of compliance with the insurance requirements of this section and the requirements of the California Financial Responsibility Law in Section 1656.2 of the Vehicle Code, a copy of which shall be maintained in the vehicle by the vehicle’s registered owner during any time when the vehicle is operated by any person other than the vehicle’s owner pursuant to a personal vehicle sharing program.

(3) Collect, maintain, and make available to the vehicle’s owner, the vehicle owner’s primary automobile liability insurer on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles, and to any other government agency as required by law, at the cost of the personal vehicle sharing program, verifiable electronic records that identify the date, time, initial and final locations of the vehicle, and miles driven when the vehicle is under the control of a person other than the vehicle’s owner pursuant to a personal vehicle sharing program.

(4) Provide the vehicle’s owner and any person that operates the vehicle pursuant to a personal vehicle sharing program with a disclosure that contains information explaining the terms and conditions contained in this section.

(5) Not knowingly permit the vehicle to be operated for commercial use by a personal vehicle sharing user while engaged in personal vehicle sharing.

(6) Use only private passenger vehicles.

(7) Facilitate the installation, operation, and maintenance of computer hardware and software and signage, necessary for a vehicle to be used in a personal vehicle sharing program, including payment of the cost of damage or theft of that equipment and any damage caused to the vehicle by the installation, operation, and maintenance of that equipment.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any provision in a private passenger motor vehicle owner’s automobile insurance policy, in the event of a loss or injury that occurs during any time period when the vehicle is under the operation and control of a person, other than the vehicle owner, pursuant to a personal vehicle sharing program, or otherwise under the control of a personal vehicle sharing program, the personal vehicle sharing program shall assume all liability of the owner and shall be considered the owner of the vehicle for all purposes. Nothing in this section limits the liability of the personal vehicle sharing program for its acts or omissions that result in injury to any persons as a result of the use or operation of a personal vehicle sharing program.

(e) A personal vehicle sharing program shall continue to be liable pursuant to subdivision (d) until both of the following occur:

(1) The private passenger motor vehicle is returned to a location designated by the personal vehicle sharing program.

(2) The earliest of one of the following occurs:

(A) The expiration of the time period established for the particular use of the vehicle.

(B) The intent to terminate the personal vehicle sharing use is verifiably communicated to the personal vehicle sharing program.

(C) The vehicle’s owner takes possession and control of the vehicle.

(f) The personal vehicle sharing program shall assume liability for a claim in which a dispute exists as to who was in control of the vehicle when the loss occurred giving rise to the claim, and the vehicle’s private passenger motor vehicle insurer shall indemnify the personal vehicle sharing program to the extent of its obligation under the applicable insurance policy, if it is determined that the vehicle’s owner was in control of the vehicle at the time of the loss.

(g) In the event that the owner of the vehicle is named as a defendant in a civil action, for a loss or injury that occurs during any time period when the vehicle is under the operation and control of a person, other than the vehicle’s owner, pursuant to a personal vehicle sharing program, or otherwise under the control of a personal vehicle sharing program, the personal vehicle sharing program shall have the duty to defend and indemnify the vehicle’s owner, subject to the provisions of subdivisions (d) and (f).

(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any provision in a vehicle owner’s automobile liability insurance policy, while a private passenger motor vehicle is used by a person other than its owner pursuant to personal vehicle sharing facilitated through a personal vehicle sharing program, all of the following shall apply:

(1) The insurer of that vehicle on file with the Department of Motor Vehicles may exclude any and all coverage afforded pursuant to its policy.

(2) The primary and excess insurer or insurers of the owners, operators, and maintainers of the private passenger motor vehicle used in a personal vehicle sharing program shall have the right to notify an insured that it has no duty to defend or indemnify any person or organization for liability for any loss that occurs during use of the vehicle in a personal vehicle sharing program.

(i) No policy of insurance that is subject to Section 11580.1 or 11580.2 shall be canceled, voided, terminated, rescinded, or nonrenewed solely on the basis that the private passenger motor vehicle has been made available for personal vehicle sharing pursuant to a personal vehicle sharing program that is in compliance with the provisions of this section.

“New competition, new technology has the ability to disrupt… People who already have an interest are confused by modern technology and there’s nothing we can do. But we’ve had several transportation lawyers give us their opinion that what we’re doing is 100% legal.”

OH, WELL, WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY SO BEFORE, DUDE? BECAUSE, OF COURSE, IF TWO LAWYERS SAY THAT SOMETHING IS LEGAL, THEN THAT MEANS THAT IT’S 100 PERCENT LEGAL. OF COURSE! AND DUDE, PERHAPS PEOPLE WHO HAVE A VESTED INTEREST IN NOT HAVING TOO MANY EMPTY TAXIS DRIVING AROUND SAN FRANCISCO AREN’T “CONFUSED” AT ALL? MAYBE THEY LIKE THE PRESENT SYSTEM.

“So by making that an optional donation at the end, we’re allowed to make certain exceptions within the legislation.”

WTF, DUDE? WHAT “LEGISLATION?” DO YOU MEAN “LAWS?” YOU SOUND LIKE A TYPICAL CEO, ONE WHO’S TRYING TO MAKE A MURKY SITUATION INTO A CRYSTAL CLEAR SITUATION. IT AINT WORKING, DUDE. NOT ON ME. PERHAPS IT WORKS ON YOUR MONEY PEOPLE, BUT IT DOESN’T WORK ON ME.

“We would eliminate people that are not safe drivers.”

ARE YOU GUARANTEEING THAT YOUR DRIVERS ARE “SAFE?” NOT EVEN THE SFMTA DOES THAT. SEEMS AS IF YOU’RE BEGGING TO GET SUED IN CIVIL COURT.

Oh, here we go, the video.

(Robert Scoble says “cool” waaaay too much, like he’s working on his second six-pack of the day.)

“I ran the idea past the former deputy director of the San Francisco Taxi Commission, Jordanna Thigpen. Despite what the companies say in their own legal documents, the judicial system may have its own view. “Sometimes in the law, judges will interpret a statute [in this way]: if it looks like a duck, if it walks like a duck, it’s a duck,” said Thigpen, now an attorney with Cotchett, Pitre, and McCarthy.

OH, WHAT’S THIS? IT APPEARS WE’VE FOUND A “TRANSPORTATION ATTORNEY” WHO THINKS WHAT LYFT IS DOING IS _NOT_ NECESSARILY 100% LEGAL. IMAGINE THAT!

“In her former position as enforcement and legal affairs manager for the taxi division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, Thigpen said that she would focus largely on safety. She frequently checked (among other things) not just that the vehicle in question had insurance at the time of inspection, but that there was continuous coverage—as the law requires of taxi companies.

I’D SAY SO. IN FACT, I’ll GO AS FAR TO SAY THAT IF A COURT FINDS THAT A SERVICE IS A VEHICLE FOR HIRE, THEN IT WOULD SUPER-DUPER UBER-LIKELY BE REQUIRED TO OBTAIN PERMITS.

“[Lyft and SideCar] are trying to put themselves in this netherworld of regulation,” Thigpen said. “The determination is: how is a court going to interpret the definition of ‘for hire’ vehicle?” For now, company representatives insist they are not a “vehicle for hire.”

YEP. THAT’S WHAT THEY’RE SAYING.

“We’ve worked with transportation legal experts who confirm we are abiding by current laws,” said John Zimmer, the founder of Zimride, in an e-mail sent to Ars. “Lyft is a community based ride-sharing service that is an extension of our existing long distance ride-share model. We use optional donations as a way for drivers to reimburse the costs associated with owning and operating a vehicle.”

WHATEVER YOU SAY, DUDE. BUT IRL THE “DONATIONS” AREN’T OPTIONAL. YOU SAY THEY ARE BUT THEY AREN’T. YOU SAY THE DRIVERS ARE TRYING TO OFFSET COSTS BUT REALLY THEY ARE TRYING TO TURN A PROFIT WITH THEIR CARS, RIGHT?

OK, we’ll just have to wait and see how thyngs go with Lyft, you know, lyng-tyrm…